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www.standard.net.au Tributes for shearing identity By TERRY SIM MORTLAKEfamily manGraeme‘Marty’ Martinwasawell- respectedandhard- working shearerand communitymember. Fromhis first shear- ing course in 1967 in NewZealandand throughout his shear- ing travels across Aus- traliaand internationally,Mr Martinwasrespected byeverybodyfor his characterandenthusi- asm. MrMartin—husband ofKarynfor 38 years andfather ofAbe, 29, Luke, 31, Brad, 36and Corey, 37—died ofa heart attack shearing in anEllerslieshedon November13,aged59. ‘‘Hewas everyone’s friendandalwayshada smile,’’ hissonAbe said. MrsMartin said her husband‘‘wrote his ownscript’’ throughout lifeand‘‘never died wondering’’ thathe hadn’t tried anything. OBITUARY ‘‘Hewas enthusiastic about everythinghedid andtook on,’’she said. ‘‘Nobody wantsit to happen, buthe wouldn’thavebeendis- appointed togo that way,’’ shesaid. Abesaidhewould rouseabout with his father during his school holidays. ‘‘Hewas the best fatheryoucould ever have—hewas lovedby everyone.’’ ‘‘He talked to every- oneandtreated every- onethe same.’’ Abesaid his father wasamemberof the MortlakeBowlsClub, the golf clubandthe MortlakeCFAfire brig- ade.Hecould always becountedonfora working bee, training days or to sell tickets foratrailer of wood. After tripsbackand forth across the Tasmanbetween1969 to 1985, the Martins madeafinalmoveto Australia 23 years ago, settling in Mortlake six years ago. ‘‘Everyoneknowshim —inall states of Aus- traliaandacrossNew Zealand,’’Abesaid. Abesaid his father ‘‘worked very, veryhard andhepartied very hard. ‘‘Hewas still shearing 200sheepadayat 59,’’ hesaid. ‘‘Hemay notbea millionaire buthewas amillionaire in life— for the experienceand the people.’’ Friendandworkmate ArdyHaurakisaidMr Martinhadarepu- tation forworkinghard asashearer.Hesaid the firstweekhemet MrMartin inaNew SouthWalesshedand tried to stayaheadof him. ‘‘Whenhewalkedin I thought ‘ohyeahIcan handle this oldman’— Iwas inmy20sandhe wasinhis 40s. ‘‘Itwasthe hardest weekI’ve everdonejust staying in front of him,’’ MrHaurakisaid. ‘‘Hewas the type of guywhowas always thereandthe tougher thesheepgo the tougherhegetsandthe harderhegoes. ‘‘And thenaweek turned intoamonth andthenamonth turned intotwomonths . . .andaftertwomonths Iwas glad to see the backendof him. ‘‘Thatwasthe very first time Iworked withhimandafter thatwebecame reallygoodmates,’’ MrHaurakisaid. MrHaurakisaidMr Martinhelped hardenhimupfor shearing. ‘‘I learnedalotfrom himonworkethic. ‘‘Graemewas the sort of guywhowhen hewentout towork hedidn’t halfdoit— itwasjust flat stick or nothing.’’ MrMartinwasalso awell-respected shearing judge at lo- calandnational level. Leasing the key pofBoostor bull wer LEASING bulls has pro- vided the necessary bull power for Camperdown dairy farmers Glenn, Ellen and James Magilton. Glenn dramatically in- creased his number of mop-up bulls within a week of talking to his vet and discovering his bull power was too low for his herd. Leasing was a fast, cost-effective and convenient option. Mr Magilton dairy farms with his wife Ellen and son James at Koreetnung, their prop- erty near Camperdown. For the past few years, the couple has been un- happy about the number of empties in their 380-cow autumn-calving herd. The artificial insemi- nation period runs for about eight weeks, with some of the herd synchronised. In the past, a team of about eight mop-up bulls has been run in two groups of three or four bulls, which were rotated twice aweek. They usually end up with about 40 empties, most of which are sold as chopper cows. Determined to do bet- ter this season, the Magiltons discussed bull management with their veterinarian Simon Dean from the Camperdown Veterin- ary Centre. Dr Dean used InCalf’s rule of thumb which showed the Magiltons Glenn and EllenMagilton found leasing solved the bull power shortage. needed 15 bulls for the 380-cow herd. ‘‘InCalf’s rule of thumb ensures you have enough bulls to run two groups in rotation so that they get regular rests. ‘‘It also allows a buffer to cover bulls that need to be removed due to lameness or injury,’’ Dr Dean said. ‘‘The Magiltons had to allow extra because heat synchrony is used.’’ Without synchrony the Magiltons would have been able to get away with a team of 12 bulls (three per 100 cows), which would be run in two groups of six and ro- tated at least weekly. When synchronisation is used there are the days of peak demand when synchronised cows return, so more bulls are needed (four per 100 cows, and all the bulls are put with the cows on the days of peak returns). Initially sur- prised, Mr Magilton’s main concern was with the logistics of manag- ing so many bulls. He already had a couple extra this year because he was milking about 20 more cows but 15wasnearly double the number of bulls used last season. ‘‘When I thought about last season, the bulls didn’t really keep up on the days when the synchronised cows re- turned,’’ he said. ‘‘And at other times they would be standing in the corner fighting in- stead of milling among the cows.’’ The challenge was to source about five bulls at short notice, because the discussion took place when the bulls were due to go in with Dr Dean suggested leasing and knew of a couple of reliable local ‘‘Leasing actually simplifies bull management for the rest of the year.’’ GlennMagilton sourcesThe lease fee of $8 a day per bull from Midfield Meat was for vaccinated and health- checked bulls, with free replacement if needed. Mr Magilton said the costs were a ‘‘no brainer’’. ‘‘A cow in calf is worth about $2000 at the mo- ment and a chopper cow brings in about $500. ‘‘We only need to get two or three extra cows in calf to cover the cost of leasing the bulls,’’ Mr Mr Magilton said. ‘‘So leasing actually simplifies bull manage- ment for the rest of the year.’’ TheMartin family (front fromleft): Corey, Karyn and Brad; back: Luke, Abe and Graeme. 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